


Those Childhood Days

by diaryofageekgirl



Category: The Librarians (TV 2014)
Genre: Age Regression/De-Aging, Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Isaac Stone's A+ Parenting, Lenore Jones' A+ Parenting, Mama Eve Baird, Team as Family
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-13
Updated: 2020-07-13
Packaged: 2021-03-05 03:47:28
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,879
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25247881
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/diaryofageekgirl/pseuds/diaryofageekgirl
Summary: A mission gone wrong results in the Librarians turned back into children. But what Eve can't figure out is why they're behaving so strangely...
Relationships: Eve Baird & Cassandra Cillian, Eve Baird & Ezekiel Jones, Eve Baird & Jacob "Jake" Stone
Comments: 12
Kudos: 151
Collections: The Librarians Prompt Month 2020





	Those Childhood Days

**Author's Note:**

> Written for The Librarians Prompt Month on tumblr! You can check out everyone else's stuff [here](https://the-librarians-prompt-month.tumblr.com/)!
> 
> The prompt for day 13 was "De-Aged".

Eve stood leaning on the balcony railing of the Annex, staring down at the main room below her. Early that morning, the Clippings Book sent them to Watertown, Wisconsin, to the front door of the first Kindergarten in America. Apparently, someone had gotten a hold of Hebe’s amphora, and was using the magical liquid within to turn everyone in town back into children. Something about not appreciating the freedom that they had when they were young, or whatever.

They had managed to get the amphora away from the culprit and safely stored in the Library, but not without all three Librarians getting doused in its ambrosia. They got back to the Annex a few hours ago. Eve had ushered all three little Librarians back through the Back Door, mentally preparing herself for babysitting duty. Luckily, Jenkins had come up with an antidote to the ambrosia, but it would take a full day to brew before they could drink it.

Regardless, Eve braced herself for everything that a trio of seven-year-olds could dish out. She had been expecting the little Librarians to be bouncing off the walls. She had expected shrieking and laughter and possibly a few temper tantrums. She’d been ready for three little chaotic balls of energy careening around the dangerous artifacts and delicate books.

She hadn’t been remotely ready for this. Which was saying something, considering what “this” was.

Cassandra and Ezekiel were sitting side-by-side at the big tables in the centre of the Annex. An elementary school math book was open between them, and they were talking quietly, working through the problems in it. Jacob was across the room at Eve’s desk, doodling on a spare piece of paper.

A tiny seed of concern had planted itself in Eve’s chest from the moment they came back through the Backdoor; now, that seed’s roots wrapped around and squeezed her heart, the bloom growing up into her throat and making it tight. What was going on with them? All of the other people who had been turned back into children acted like your typical hyperactive screaming 2nd-graders. So why weren’t the Librarians?

Eve heard a rustle of fabric from beside her. She glanced from the corner of her eye at Jenkins, who was standing beside her up against the rail and looking down on the Librarians, much like she was. The two of them stood for a minute or two in silence, watching the kids below. Eve sighed heavily.

“I just don’t get it Jenkins – no one else who was doused in the ambrosia was acting like this, so why are they? Could something have gone wrong? Could there have, I don’t know,” she shrugged helplessly, “been some other liquid that the amphora created along with the ambrosia?”

Jenkins made a noise, a little “hmph” at the back of his throat in acknowledgement.

He didn’t say anything else, so Eve barreled on. “I mean, I was expecting Cassandra to be following everyone around and, and yammering away about every stray thought that crossed her mind – well, more so than usual.” Eve ran a hand over her hair, despite the fact that her military-precision style left no loose hair. “I thought Stone and Ezekiel would be chasing each other around the stacks and terrorizing each other. I thought all _three_ of them would be trying to play with the artifacts and accidentally setting off some spell or curse or something.”

She sighed as she watched Cassandra push the math book towards Ezekiel, pointing at something on the page and whispering to him. “I just… I don’t understand.”

Jenkins propped his elbows up on the railing and leaned forwards, studying the Librarians. He took a breath and opened his mouth to speak, then paused, like he thought better of what he was going to say.

He started again. “Colonel, the amphora of Hebe, and the ambrosia it contains, reverts any who touch it to their childhood state.”

Eve rolled her eyes. “Yeah, I know, Jenkins, we just spent the whole morning dealing with a bunch of magically-created toddlers.”

Jenkins held up his hand to stop her. “You misunderstand me, Colonel; when I say it reverts them, I mean that quite literally. It doesn’t just make them into an average child, nor does it keep their personalities of their adult selves. They return to both the physical, and more importantly, the mental, state that they were in at that age.”

“So, what does that mean for the Librarians, exactly?” Eve asked, her brows furrowed.

Jenkins tipped his head, brows raised. “Well, take Mr. Stone, for example – the mission the Librarians went on just a few years ago, to stop Hokolonote. If you recall, he had quite the complicated encounter with his father, one that he refused to talk about.”

Yes, Eve remembered; Jacob may have not wanted to talk about it, but Cassandra and Ezekiel filled her in after they finished up in Oklahoma. Once she had processed the information – and gotten over her desire to punch Isaac Stone in the face – she didn’t confront Jacob about it. She just made sure he knew she was there for him. And maybe she gave him a little extra praise on the next couple of missions, but he didn’t need to know that.

If that was the reason for his current subdued behavior…

“And more recently,” Jenkins continued, oblivious to Eve’s swirling thoughts, “this past Christmas, and Mr. Jones’ excursion with Santa’s sleigh. Or, rather, his and his mother’s excursion.”

Again, Ezekiel didn’t say anything to her about it – dodging her questions and deflecting with sarcastic humour, as he usually did when things got too personal. Except, a few days after returning the sleigh, Eve had unintentionally overheard a conversation between him and Jacob, the resident cowboy commiserating with him over spiked eggnog about shitty parents. Ezekiel had responded with a half-hour long rant about how his mother and sisters were “demons that escaped hell”, and how his mother in particular took great delight in using him as a showcase of failure to his sisters. How no matter what he did, it would never be enough to prove himself to her.

Eve’s heart was pounding, and a cold feeling settled in her gut. She swallowed, willing the tears that were forming in her eyes to not fall.

“And Miss Cillian has mentioned her own parents’ neglect on more than one occasion – how they would prioritize her mind over her personhood.”

Eve walked backwards blindly until her back hit one of the bookshelves. She covered her mouth with a hand. How had she not put it all together before? She’d been bounced around from military academy to military academy, and while her parents were nothing but supportive, she had seen her fair share of classmates who weren’t so fortunate. She knew exactly how those kids, and others like them from abusive homes acted: keep your head down, keep your mouth shut, or it’s only going to get worse.

She took a deep, shuddering breath, and brought her hand up to rub the wetness from her eyes. She looked back at Jenkins, who met her gaze with a look of sympathy.

“What can I do? How do I fix this?”

Jenkins’ head tipped again, and his brow furrowed in confusion. “Colonel…you’ve already done it.” She stared at him, not quite comprehending what he was saying. When she didn’t speak, he elaborated. “Look at the Librarians – you are giving them the freedom they never had before. Miss Cillian didn’t have any close relationships before coming here; Mr. Stone had an entire façade that he constructed to shield him from his hometown’s judgment, and another five more for the world of academia; and for all Mr. Jones claims to be just fine with or without the Library, or any of us, I know for a fact how lonely the world is when you walk it alone.”

“And that is not, of course, to say that they don’t share a strong bond between the three of them,” he said, “but it is you they look to for guidance, and for leadership, and for reassurance. It is you that they consider their family, along with each other. And it is you that they trust with their hearts and souls and bodies. You are their Guardian – in more than one sense of the word.”

Jenkins let that statement hang in the air between them. After a moment, he gave Eve a tight smile. “Well, I need to check on the antidote. I’m sure you can handle things here, Colonel.” With that, he gave her a reassuring pat on the shoulder and brushed past her down the stairs. Eve stood stock-still, her mind struggling to come to terms with everything Jenkins had said while she heard his footsteps disappear down the hall to his lab.

She pushed off of the bookshelf, taking a deep breath to steady herself again. She walked briskly down the steps and made a beeline for her desk. Jacob pulled his drawing away as she approached, hiding it from her view. Her heart ached at the sight, but she didn’t let it show on her face. She grabbed her keys and spun around, plastering on a big smile.

“Alright, kids, we’ve been cooped up in here for too long today. Who wants ice cream?”

Ezekiel and Cassandra immediately perked up. “Me! Me!” “I want ice cream!”

Eve felt a tug on her sleeve, and looked down to see that Jacob had gotten up from his chair.

“But we don’t have any ice cream,” he murmured, sounding almost guilty for bringing it up.

Eve just smiled at him. She bent down and picked him up, grinning as he laughed in surprise and popped him onto her hip.

“No, but I’m sure we can find some. Jo-Ezekiel,” she called, motioning with her finger for him to come closer. She passed him her cell phone. “See if you can find an ice cream shop nearby.”

“Okay!” He unlocked her phone (and Eve decided to be concerned that he knew her passcode at a later time) and got to work searching Google. Eve put a hand on his back to guide him towards the door to the Annex. Cassandra came rushing up a moment later, her red hair flying out behind her.

“Can we get as many flavours as we want?” she asked.

Eve chuckled and ruffled her hair with her free hand. “You can get a couple.” She waited for Cassandra to look back up at her again. “What’s your favourite?”

“Cookie dough!”

Eve gasped, pretending to be shocked. “No way, that’s mine, too!”

“I like mint chip,” Jacob said, mostly muffled into her shoulder.

Ezekiel wrinkled his nose. “Mint chip’s gross.”

“Nuh-uh”

“Yuh-huh.”

“Well what’s your favourite, then?”

“Black cherry,” Ezekiel said, looking and sounding incredibly smug.

“Bleagh.” Jacob stuck his tongue out.

Eve smiled fondly at her ridiculous Librarians. Maybe they hadn’t had much of a childhood the first time around, and maybe Eve wasn’t able to fix that in a single day and a trip to an ice cream parlour. She’d be damned if she wasn’t going to try anyways. She was supposed to protect them, to save their souls. She was their Guardian.

**Author's Note:**

> I would put this after season 4, when they're living out that year again without Nicole's influence. The only really big difference plot-wise is that Ezekiel's mother doesn't have a completely unrealistic and way too quick jump from "super greedy and emotionally and verbally abusive" to "Wow! Sharing is great and feels so good :)" 
> 
> Thanks for reading!


End file.
